Most business owners widely acknowledge that their firm’s greatest resource is its staff. Employees are the lifeblood of a firm providing goods, services, and support to its clients, so hiring the right staff is essential if your company is to be successful.
However, finding the right people can prove challenging for many business owners – particularly if you’re just a new-start company or only have limited resources. If that sounds in any way familiar, below are a few tips that could help you source the best employees for your company.
Create an accurate, compelling, candidate-focused job description
When you’re advertising a job, you are in effect marketing your company. Remember, prospective employees will likely have already looked at hundreds of adverts similar to yours so, if you want to get the attention of the best staff, you’ll need to make your firm and your job offer appear as appealing as possible. Likewise, if you don’t give an accurate description of the type of person you’re looking for, you’ll likely attract unqualified applicants that aren’t up to the job.
Think about the type of person you’re looking for and get creative with where you post the vacancy details
It used to be that just advertising in the local paper was enough for firms to find staff; however, in today’s uber-connected world, your firm has access to a global pool of talent. Using the services of a respected recruitment agency like RECRUITdee will put your advert in front of a much bigger audience than just thinking locally. You should also post vacancy details on your website and Facebook page – as much because the ad will serve as good promotion and evidence that you’re growing as a company.
Ditch the dull interview style
If you really want to get into an applicant’s mind and soul, you should steer away from the typical ‘What are your strengths and weaknesses’ questions during the interview process. Applicants are far more likely to reveal more about themselves and their personality if you give them more open-ended, unexpected questions. Also, think about involving the applicant more with your team to see if they look like a good fit.
For example, introducing the prospective employee to your existing staff can give valuable insight into how they might interact with each other further down the line. First impressions really do count, so take a moment to consider how well the applicant seems to fit and also look for other tell-tale non-verbal signals. This approach also has the added advantage that you’ll be able to get a second opinion from your team.
Consider personality to be as important as skills
It can often be tempting to automatically pick the best qualified or most highly skilled applicant by default, but it’s worth remembering, many of these skills can be learned on the job. So instead of just focusing on what a prospective employee can do, also think about their personality and other soft skills.
Lastly, you should consider how the applicant might fit with the overall culture of your firm and its operations. How an employee works is as important as the function they perform – particularly when it comes to customer-facing roles.